The Exhibitor (1950)

NT-2 EXHIBITOR Hazel Smith, Norma Saltzman, Mildred Lindsay, and Irmar Atkinson, inspec¬ tresses. Bob Bilber, who has written scores for “Shamrock Hill,” “There’s A Girl in My Heart,” and another being filmed under the title, “Here Lies Jill,” was in for a brief stop over enroute from Hollywood to New York, Traveling with him was his wife, Sallie, and their dog, Michael. During their stay, they visited the Les¬ ter Kabacoffs. J. R. Lamantia, RKO manager, main¬ tains his lead of the company’s ex¬ changes at the end of the 24th week in the standings of RKO’s 1950 “Ned Depinet Drive.” E. V. Landaiche, Realart franchise holder, announced the promotion of Walter Gagnet to sales manager. Gagnet was formerly a shipper and then a booker in the New Orleans exchange. He is married, and has two children. Memphis The Warner has a new assistant man¬ ager, Glen Walker, formerly of Oklaho¬ ma City. He succeeds Allen N. Smith, who resigned to join the Rockwood Amuse¬ ment Company, Nashville, Tenn. Walker got his start in the theatre business in Oklahoma. Announcement was made by James S. McCarthy, Warner manager. . . . The Merlu, Clarendon, Ark., closed for repairs, reopened. Eagle Lion Classics — Hazel Brashier, secretary to the branch manager, was vacationing in Virginia. Lawrence Landers, Batesville, Ark., was booking. Monarch Theatre Supply — Miss Jean Poulas, secretary, was vacationing in Atlanta. Paramount — Hortense Van Hooser, inspectress, was vacationing in Galves¬ ton, Tex. 20th Century-Fox — Seen around were Mrs. Clara Collier, Drew, Miss.; Leon Rountree, Water Valley, Miss.; M. E. Rice, Brownsville, Tenn.; R. B. Cox, Batesville, Miss., and C. J. Collier, Shaw, Miss.; Bob Lowery, Jonesboro, Ark.; F. J. Daugherty, West Helena, Ark., and John Mohrstady, president, Allied Inde¬ pendent Mid-South Theatres, Hayti, Mo. Screen Guild — J. W. “Dink” Jones, Jones-Busby Circuit, Little Rock, Ark., was visiting, and Jerry Jernigan, branch manager, reported a fine meeting in Chicago. MGM — Gloria McLemore, biller, vaca¬ tioned in Virginia. . . . Louise Mask and W. L. Goodman, Blue Mountain, Miss., were seen booking. RKO — Fred Curd, office manager-book¬ er, expected to give the grass a hard time during his vacation. U-I — Robert Miller, availability clerk, was vacationing. . . . Booking were: Gordon Hutchins, Corning, Ark.; W. E. Ringer, and Gene Higginbotham, Leachville, Ark.; F. E. Williams, Clarksdale, Miss.; W. F. Ruffin, Sr., Covington, Tenn., and Jimmy Seay Cardwell, Mo. Monogram — The personnel was offer¬ ing sympathy to Martha Jones in the death of her brother-in-law, who had a fatal accident on his farm. Warners — Mrs. Bea Davies, contract clerk, was vacationing, and Janice Long, biller, spent the weekend in New Orleans. . . . Bill Kroger, Portageville, Mo., was visiting. Seen on the Row: John Mohrstadt, Hayti, Mo., and Arthur Rush, general manager, Allied Independent Theatres Owners of the mid-South, with their heads together over problems, and Jack Watson, Tunica, Miss., and R. H. Kin¬ ney, Hughes, Ark. The King Cotton, Cotton Plant, Ark., managed by Paul W. Whiting, closed, and the Dixie, Corning, Ark., closed since January, reopened. Robert M. Kilgore has been named manager, Ken Drive-In, West Memphis. Kilgore, long time with Loew’s, had pre¬ viously managed the SkyVue Drive-In. David Flexer, Flexer Theatres, Inc., made the announcement. The open air theatre at West Memphis is one of three new theatres to be opened by Flexer this summer. The second one to be com¬ pleted will be at Clarksdale, Miss., but he has not announced the location of the third in the unit. The West Memphis unit will represent an investment of $125,000, and will accommodate about 5000 cars. The Clarksdale unit is esti¬ mated at $100,000, and is scheduled to open on Aug. 1. It will be named by citizens in a contest. . . . The West Memphis Drive-In will open on July 14 and, general supervisor Kilgore, will handle the units when they are completed. Florida Miami A successful convention of the MPEF was held recently with Gael Sullivan, TOA executive director, guest speaker. Other speakers included convention chairman Mitchell Wolfson, LaMar Sarra, Miami Beach’s Mayor Harold Turk, Congressman-elect Bill Lantaff, and L. A. Stein. . . . A1 Weiss, manager, Olympia, for the first time held over an act, the “Vagabonds.” Carroll Low¬ ery, assistant, missed out on the big event, being off on his vacation, but Kenneth Allen did a creditable job in his absence. . . . Riviera Beach is the location of a new building project to cost an estimated $150,000, part of which will be a theatre, the Riviera. Lessee’s are the Wall Properties. . . . The Capitol was auditioning amateur talent. . . . William Farris, druggist of Allahpattah, Fla., bought out the early matinee shows of the Regent recently when he hosted his annual movie party. Miami Robert Reynolds pleaded guilty in U. S. District Court to a six count in¬ formation charging copyright infringe¬ ment on “Footlight Serenade,” “The Great American Broadcast,” “Behind Lew Herb Winds Up The Atlanta Jaunt (Lew Herb completes his travels in the Atlanta territory — Ed.) Back in Atlanta again, we stopped in at the Central, one of the older grindhouses, and chatted with Charles W. Webb, who took over the management five months ago. Webb has been in busi¬ ness for nine years, all of which he has spent under the tutelage of exhibitor Murray, who operates the Rialto and Highland in addition to the Central, which he acquired about three years ago from the Bach Circuit. We then headed southeast. Our first stop, Hampton, Ga., proved fruitless. At the next stop, Barnesville, Ga., we managed to locate Wallace Smith, Gem, a venture started by his father 26 years ago. Smith turned the theatre over to his wife two years ago, and is concentrating his efforts on livestock buying beef cattle. Another theatre, the Ritz, is operated by Lucas and Jenkins, and opened about 10 years ago. In Roberta, Ga., we stopped to chat with J. B. Liles, but he was out of town so we continued our journey and soon found ourselves in Hawkinsville, Ga. the home of J. H. Thompson, president Georgia Theatre Owners organization. He was out at the new drive-in he was rushing to completion for its opening. Although he is associated with the Mar¬ tin Circuit, he did not build one of the circuit’s pre-fab drive-ins, but utilized local labor and the ingenuity of his own staff, and designed and built a very clever, attractive outdoor theatre. It was built in exactly 17 working days. The concession stand has a large picture win¬ dow outside the concession department, seats are available for those patrons who wish to leave their cars and eat, or for those who walk-in. The theatre is located on Highway 26 between Hawkinsville and Cochran, Ga., the adjoining com¬ munity 10 miles distant. Another out-door theatre on this same road, closer to Cochran, opened before and we went to look it over. Manager Owens was handling the theatre for C. A. Williams who along with several other associates, owns this and a few others. Green Lights,” “And Then There Were None,” “The Navy Way,” and “Tarzan’s Desert Mystery,” and was fined $100 on each count by Judge J. W. Clancy. North Carolina Bryson City The Hilltop, a new drive-in, opened. It is equipped with the latest high inten¬ sity projection and sound equipment by DeVry. Greensboro The Sundown, a 200-car capacity drive-in for Negroes, opened on the Huffine Mill Road. A dance pavilion and concessions stand are included. Rounder L. Ledwell and Clarence Fuller are the owners. June 28, 1950